Is The East-West Rail Link Going For The Freight Market?
I will deal with question in two main sections; West and East.
Freight In The West
In Shapps Supports Beeching Axe Reversals, I talked about the reopening of the Northampton and Marketharborough Line to connect the West Coast and Midland Main Lines..
- Passenger services could run between Market Harborough or Leicester and Marylebone, Milton Keynes, Oxford or Reading.
- Multi-modal services could run between freight terminals in the North Midlands and Yorkshire and Southampton Docks.
- With electrification, it could create the Electric Spine, that was cancelled a few years ago.
Judging by Grant Shapps comments, I do wonder if this scheme is part of the East-West Rail Link.
Look at freight trains between Sheffield or South Yorkshire and Southampton Docks.
- Currently, they seem to use a route via Chesterfield, Ilkeston, Toton, Burton-on-Trent, Bordesley, Solihull, Warwick Parkway, Banbury, Oxford, Reading and Basingstoke.
- After the East-West Rail Link and the Northampton and Market Harborough Line are opened, the trains would go via Chesterfield, Ilkeston, East Midland Parkway, Loughborough, Leicester, Market Harborough, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Bletchley, Bicester, Oxford, Reading and Basingstoke.
The advantages of the new second route would appear to be.
- It doesn’t involve a Grand Tour of Birmingham.
- It only involves the next phase of the East-West Rail Link.
- It is partially-electrified.
- It would be relatively easy to electrify between Didcot and Bletchley.
- Innovative locomotives like the Class 93 locomotive might be ideal for the route.
I do suspect that the new route will be substantially quicker.
Freight In The East
If the East-West Rail Link will improve freight services in the West, what will it do in the East?
I wrote about freight at the Eastern end of the route in Roaming Around East Anglia – Freight Trains Through Newmarket.
This was the introduction to that article.
The East West Rail Consortium plan to change the route of freight trains to and from Haven Ports; Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich to the West of Kennett station.
In this document on the East-West Rail Consortium web site, this is said.
Note that doubling of Warren Hill Tunnel at Newmarket and
redoubling between Coldham Lane Junction and Chippenham Junction is included
in the infrastructure requirements. It is assumed that most freight would operate
via Newmarket, with a new north chord at Coldham Lane Junction, rather than
pursuing further doubling of the route via Soham.How would these changes affect Newmarket and the horse-racing industry in the town?
I then examined the affects in detail.
My conclusions were that it will be a difficult project to get approved, as Newmarket won’t like a double-track freight railway through the centre.
Summary Of Freight Routes Using The East-West Rail Link
As far as I can see, these will be the major freight routes using the link.
Felixstowe and Birmingham
Ipswich, Newmarket, Cambridge, Bletchley, Nuneaton and Castle Bromwich
Felixstowe and Bristol
Ipswich, Newmarket, Cambridge, Bletchley, Oxford and Swindon
Felixstowe and Cardiff
Ipswich, Newmarket, Cambridge, Bletchley, Oxford, Swindon and Newport
Felixstowe and Glasgow
Ipswich, Newmarket, Cambridge, Bletchley, Stafford, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle
Felixstowe and Liverpool
Ipswich, Newmarket, Cambridge, Bletchley, Stafford, Crewe and Runcorn
Felixstowe and Trafford Park
Ipswich, Newmarket, Cambridge, Bletchley, Stafford Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road
Southampton and Birmingham
Basingstoke, Oxford, Bletchley, Nuneaton and Castle Bromwich
Southampton and Glasgow
Basingstoke, Oxford, Bletchley, Stafford, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle
Southampton and Liverpool
Basingstoke, Oxford, Bletchley, Stafford, Crewe and Runcorn
Southampton and Sheffield
Basingstoke, Oxford, Bletchley, Northampton, Market Harborough, Leicester, East Midlands Parkway, Ilkeston and Chesterfield
Southampton and Trafford Park
Basingstoke, Oxford, Bletchley, Stafford Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road
Note, that I have ignored routes like Felixstowe and Leeds or London Gateway and Trafford Park, which will avoid the East-West Rail Link.
Conclusion
The East-West Rail Link is going to be a very important freight route.
Winners And Losers
Will there be objections in places like Cambridge, Market Harborough and Newmarket, which will see a large increase in freight traffic?
On the other hand, some places like Banbury, Birmingham and North London will see a reduction in freight traffic.
Others like Oxford would see little difference in the numbers of trains.
Electrification
The East-West Rail Link connects to five electrified main lines at Oxford, Bletchley, Bedford, Sandy and Cambridge.
For freight’s sake, I think it should be electrified to make the most of new motive power, like the Class 93 locomotive and reduce pollution and carbon emissions.
Bristol Poised For Seven-Day Ban On Diesel Cars
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Bristol is set to become the first city in Britain to ban diesel cars under the toughest measures yet seen to combat air pollution.
A few points.
- It will apply to all diesels.
- It will apply in part the City Centre.
- Petrol cars will be exempt.
Although, I agree with the need to improve air quality, I doubt the measure will be passed. Selfish interests will prevail!
Asthma Carbon Footprint ‘As Big As Eating Meat’
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Many people with asthma could cut their carbon footprint and help save the environment by switching to “greener” medications, UK researchers say.
I know more than a bit about metered dose inhalers.
I backed an inhaler, which is marketed under the name of Respimat, as when I saw the technology of the company, my physics knowledge told me that they had something.
The device was purely mechanical, with no batteries, electrical supply, gases or noxious chemicals. It effectively used the principle of an old-fashioned air pistol, that fired drugs instead of pellets.
I still have the prototype in my garage.
It was a bit of a roller-coaster of an investment, but I made a good return in the end, when we sold the device to Bohringer Ingelheim.
I was saying what Cambridge University are now saying, nearly twenty years ago!
Shapps Supports Beeching Axe Reversals
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps says he supports the reopening of routes closed in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
In the article, which describes proceedings in the House of Commons, Grant Shapps, says he was very supportive of opening the Market Harborough Line.
I have now moved the rest of this article to a standalone article with a title of Reopening Milton Keynes And Market Harborough Via Northampton.
Around London Road Depot Of The Bakerloo Line
These pictures show the area around the London Road Depot of the Bakerloo Line.
This Google Map shows the depot.
I walked along the road alongside the blue-roofed building from South-West to North-East.
As you can see from the pictures, some of the area has been developed and some is well past its rebuild date.
In TfL Moots Bakerloo Line To Hayes, I asked, whether this site would be worth developing.
After my quick walk around, I suspect that the answer could be in the affirmative.
In
Grenfell Tower Fire: ‘Systemic Failures’ In Fire Brigade’s Response
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has been condemned for “serious shortcomings” and systemic failures in its response to the Grenfell Tower fire, in a report into the 2017 blaze.
I am particularly worried about the stay-put policy.
In the 1950s, I was a member of the Scouts and several times we did exercises with the London Fire Brigade, where we were taught how to get out of blazing buildings. We were also used as dummy causalities in major incident training.
Certainly, the advice then for a fire was to get out.
Around 1970, I worked on chemical plants for ICI and fire safety was taken very seriously.
I remember being told to know your escape route from where you were working. And get out fast, if anything happened. Not that it did!
One other thing I remember is on the Wilton site, seeing office windows with “Perspex Window – Fine Hazard” stencilled on them. The reason for this, was that a nearby polythene plant very occasionally caused spectacular aerial explosions and glass windows were just too dangerous, as when shattered, they covered those inside with shards of glass.
If you read the story of the Summerland Disaster in August 1973, which killed fifty people and injured eighty, Wikipedia says this about the building.
The street frontage and part of the roof was clad in Oroglas, a transparent acrylic glass sheeting.
Oroglas is a poly(methyl methacrylate) and is another tradename for the same plastic, which ICI called Perspex.
I’d left ICI, by the time of the Summerland Disaster, but I was still in contact with friends, who worked in Plastics Division, who were responsible for Perspex. One was very critical of the use of Oroglas in the building. I was also told that ICI turned down Summerland order, as they thought it was not a suitable application, as Perspex was too flammable.
I should also say, that I have lived in a tower block with my family.
From my knowledge, I would not have lived in a building with flammable cladding.
Cromwell Tower in the Barbican is clad in concrete, with a network of tunnels going a couple of floors down from each flat on the thirty-five floors. I can remember checking the fire escapes before I signed the lease.
It also has no gas supply, with underfloor electric heating.
After the Grenfell Tower fire, I feel that architects and lawmakers have completely ignored the lessons of history!
Conclusion
There is a need to make sure that we take on board all the lessons of Grenfell, so that the chance of another disaster are minimised.
The Space In A Class 707 Train
This morning I got into an empty Class 707 train at Waterloo station and took these pictures.
They do show the wide aisle and the spacious lobbies by the wide double doors.
I think all suburban trains should be given lots of space like this.
- It allows for a lot of standees.
- A high proportion of passengers get a seat.
- Passengers can circulate from car-to-car to find a seat or perhaps people they know.
- The space helps quick exit and entry to the train.
Unfortunately, not all suburban trains have such spacious interiors.
These are a selection.
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- A Forest Of Orange Poles
Note these pictures show London Overground’s Class 710 and Class 378 trains and Crossrail’s Class 345 trains.
Seating along the side may not be to everybody’s taste, but it does get a large number of passengers into a train.
Siemans and Bomnardier use very different philosophies, but achieve the same result.
Syon Lane Station – 28th October 2019
Work seems to be progressing slowing on the footbridge at Syon Lane station.
The foundations seem substantial, which perhaps indicates that the bridge won’t be a simple prefabricated one, but more one with brick towers and a heavy steel bridge.
Could this bridge be being built in the same style as the new bridge at Ewell West station, which I described in Ewell West Station Has A New Step-Free Footbridge?
Ewell West Station Has A New Step-Free Footbridge
Ewell West station has a new step-free footbridge.
As the pictures show it is a high-quality structure.
There are some pictures of the station in Before Crossrail 2 – Ewell West, which is dated as 23rd July, 2015.
I finished that post, with this statement.
It is not a station, that needs much work for Crossrail 2 except for a modern enclosed footbridge with lifts and a refurbishment.
I don’t think the station building has been refurbished yet, but the platforms and their accessories are high quality and a new posh bike facility has been built.
Is Ewell West station now ready for Crossrail 2?
Conclusion
Should the first phase of Crossrail 2 or any other rail project for that matter, be to refurbish all existing stations and track, that will be used in the project?
- Existing passengers get some benefit early and are perhaps more amenable to the disruption caused by some later phases of the new project.
- If the main project gets delayed, at least something has been delivered.
- The cash flow of the project is spread over a more manageable time-scale.
- Ridership might be increased.
If other Crossrail 2 stations or suburban stations in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester or Sheffield are refurbished to this standard, I’m sure that few will complain.
Only In Wimbledon
I took this picture in Wimbledon station.
Note that the wording at the top of the poster says The Championships.
Is there something I’m missing?
The Anonymous Widower 